Chapter 1253: Fighting Against Oneself!

Where could he find them, and who could he send to look?

Chen Changsheng couldn't think of a suitable candidate. Zhao Yuqing was currently deep in his tribulation, and Changsheng himself already owed plenty of favors. Aside from him, who else was there?

The immediate problem was that he was trapped here.

Yu Xuan said, "I can lend it to you."

Chen Changsheng paused. "You're willing to lend it to me?"

"But you have to promise me one thing," Yu Xuan said, looking at him.

"What is it?"

Manyue's stance had always been something Chen Changsheng couldn't figure out.

He couldn't tell if Manyue was on the Demon Sovereign's side or what she was playing at. She seemed to hold no grudges, helping both sides equally.

"If the Demon Sovereign ever falls at your hands," Yu Xuan said, "I hope you will spare his life."

Chen Changsheng was stunned into silence.

"You came into being because of him," Yu Xuan said. "What does it matter if you accept this favor?"

"I am nothing more than one of his game pieces," Chen Changsheng said. "What do you mean I came into being because of him? Unlike him, I received heaven's aid entirely because the grand scheme is controlling me. Sometimes I feel that I am just myself, but after understanding everything, I discovered that I was first that demon's game piece, and later became a game piece of this world. The people of the world are game pieces, and so am I. It should have been as clear as black and white, so why have I become gray, seeking survival in the cracks? Is this what I was meant to endure by coming here?"

Yu Xuan calmed down. She let out a breath and chose not to argue. "Think it over. I will come find you again in a while. If you still don't have an answer for me then, I won't bother you anymore."

Chen Changsheng didn't speak; he just looked up.

He remained silent for a moment before saying, "I promise you."

Yu Xuan, who had been about to leave, stopped in her tracks and looked back.

"You aren't going to think it over?"

Chen Changsheng met her gaze. "You aren't Manyue, are you?"

Yu Xuan stiffened; in that moment, she wanted nothing more than to leave this place immediately.

Chen Changsheng continued, "With your skills, you cleverly borrowed the Dao rhythm of heaven and earth within my Dream Method to hide yourself. But you overlooked one thing. These three thousand Dao rhythms are all in my hands. Even the faintest difference is crystal clear to me. The experience you used to forge the spirit cage doesn't work here. The difference between turning illusion into reality and pure falsehood is massive, which is why you exposed a flaw."

"Since you noticed from the beginning," Yu Xuan said, "why waste words on me?"

"I was also wondering why you pretended to know nothing and became Meng Po at the Bridge of Naihe," Chen Changsheng said. "But now I understand the gist of it."

Yu Xuan turned her head away, ready to leave.

"You are disappointed with his methods, yet you can't let him go," Chen Changsheng said. "You are willing to lend me a hand simply because I am the reincarnation of his divine sense. Although I am not him on the surface, I am particularly like him—like the man he was before he succumbed to his inner demon."

Yu Xuan stopped in her tracks and whipped back around.

Her face grew cold. "Nonsense! You are nothing more than a game piece in the palm of the Heavenly Dao. You are you, not him!"

"If you could really tell the difference," Chen Changsheng replied, "you wouldn't have entered my dream."

Yu Xuan walked away without looking back, almost as if she were fleeing in a panic.

Chen Changsheng had been right about everything.

Like Chen Changsheng before, she couldn't distinguish between what was real and what was fake.

In this grand scheme, she should have been an outsider, yet she had been dragged deeply into it.

After Yu Xuan left, the Dream Method fell quiet once more.

Chen Changsheng sighed softly. Truth be told, he was unwilling to be entangled with her, especially since Yu Xuan couldn't tell them apart.

Now that Yu Xuan was gone, what was to be done about his current situation?

Chen Changsheng felt that just because he was relying solely on himself, it didn't mean he was completely out of options.

First and foremost, he needed a living creature that didn't belong to this Dream Method.

In that instant, Chen Changsheng suddenly realized something.

'The Power of the Heavenly Dao...'

"What if I become the Heavenly Dao?"

His heart suddenly jolted. He remembered the demon's tactic of sacrificing a plum tree for a peach tree—splitting his divine sense to evade the Heavenly Dao...

Chen Changsheng thought about it in a daze, vaguely feeling that this might just be a viable method.

Right now, inside this Dream Method, wasn't he the only foreign living creature?

Thinking of this, Chen Changsheng severed a fraction of his divine sense.

With a flick of his finger, that sliver of divine sense fell into the world below.

Just like a seed, taking root and sprouting.

After leaving Chen Changsheng's Dream Method, Yu Xuan didn't explain a single thing to Manyue. She left hurriedly, returning to the Main Hall by the Bridge of Naihe.

She relentlessly brewed that Meng Po Soup. From then on, she rarely spoke to anyone, no longer appearing as lively and interesting as before.

Manyue saw that something was wrong with her and asked about it, but received no answer.

She didn't press the matter, nor did she disturb her.

She knew the Underworld would become peaceful again. Perhaps there wouldn't be any activity for a very long time.

But she soon gathered her focus.

Her gaze suddenly shifted toward Zhao Yuqing beside her.

"Hmm?"

All of a sudden.

A wisp of black energy surged from Zhao Yuqing's body.

That strand of black energy suddenly darted away.

"Lock."

Manyue spoke softly, watching the Dao rhythm of heaven and earth rise in an attempt to trap the inner demon that had manifested into reality.

However, the inner demon trembled, shattering that Dao rhythm entirely.

Startled, Manyue stood up.

But this had given that sliver of inner demon an opportunity. In the blink of an eye, it surged into the Gate of Reincarnation.

Manyue stood frozen in place.

After her brief astonishment, her expression calmed down again.

She sat back down and reopened her book.

Perhaps it was destined that this inner demon should escape into Reincarnation.

Since it had already happened, Manyue wouldn't dwell on it. After all, what lay behind the Gate of Reincarnation wasn't the Underworld anyway.

Less than half a day after the inner demon left, Zhao Yuqing slowly woke up.

"Yun'er!!"

He sat up abruptly, gasping for breath.

When he regained his senses and realized where he was, he blanked out again.

It was then he heard Manyue speak. "Your emotional tribulation is not yet over, and now your inner demon tribulation has arisen. Your inner demon swept away a strand of your soul and entered Reincarnation. I fear it will trigger boundless karma in the outside world before long."

"You need to return to the Mortal World."

Zhao Yuqing was stunned, taking a long while to process Manyue's words.

Investigating inwardly, he indeed discovered that a portion of his Three Souls and Seven Spirits was missing.

He lifted his Sword and cupped his hands. "Thank you!"

Manyue shook her head, offering no response.

With a raise of her hand, she opened a door.

Zhao Yuqing stepped through the door with his Sword in hand. Separated by just this single threshold, he returned to the Nanyuan Well.

His inner demon had grown to an unimaginable extent.

Yet, for some inexplicable reason, this made Zhao Yuqing look forward to it.

He had fought against people and fought against heaven, but he had never yet fought against himself!